The Challenge of Love
by Searing Flames
Summary: After a traumatic event, a recently promoted jonin is told she is arranged to marry the leader of an allied nation. The news is not taken well. How will she keep away from her husband to be? A missing nin, some pink flowers, and chaos is certainly involved.
1. A Strange Request

Disclaimer: If it were ours, would we be posting it here? You know what, don't answer that one...

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A Strange Request

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Smoke swirls lazily within the empty bar. The early hour ensures few that very few patrons are within, though the noise level would have one believe otherwise. It was the perfect place for him to rest and nourish.

Ai Akeno, a missing nin that few knew to miss, was of small stature, barely reaching 1.65 meters, and androgynous features. His shoulder length white hair naturally tussled around his face at various lengths, framing soft rose-colored eyes. The slender build and elegant mannerisms did little to help the projection of masculinity, nor the image of a fearsome, self-supporting missing shinobi. His signature jutsus were more of a matter of self-depreciating pride at this point.

"Bar~tender-sama~!" Akeno hiccups from his perch at the bar, "More sake! Ple-ase~?" He sways perilously in the stool, his cheeks flushed and eyes slightly glazed.

"Eh!" The bartender shouts. "You've already had ten shots!" He peers at the boy carefully. "I'm cutting you off."

This causes Akeno to fall from his chair. "What?!" Pulling himself to his feet with help of the chairs near him, Akeno looks to him beggingly, his eyes becoming large and teary. "But Bartender-sama, I'm a full-fledged ninja, surely you can't be cruel enough to cut me off? It may be the last time I get to enjoy myself."

The man sighs and shakes his head, carefully ignoring the puppy eyes sent his way. "No."

Just as Akeno attempts to try again, a cat walks into the bar. And no it is not the beginning of a bad joke.

The cat, a large black creature with bright green eyes, saunters all the way up to the bar and pounces onto the empty stool beside him. Akeno's eyes can do nothing but follow.

"Afternoon Atsugu-san." The cat intones, its voice a deep rumble. A summon then.

"Ah! Afternoon Haru! How is your mistress today?" The bartender now known to be Atsugu asks cheerfully, his mind now off of the white-haired boy.

The cat looks around carefully, ignoring Akeno and double checking that none of the usual gossips are within hearing range. "That's why I'm here actually." The cat says quietly. "I need your word to not divulge the specifics, it could lead to… trouble for her."

Atsugu scoffs. "Of course, she did me good a while back and I don't look down on good doin's."

Haru nods knowing, the concept of honor easily grasped. "My mistress is in quite a bind." He seems grim. "She's looking for… help. Outside help."

The bartender frowns. "She's wantin' a passin' ninja?" Akeno perks up at the words.

The cat nods. "Have a letter."

Akeno's eyes widen and a smile spreads across his face. "I'm a shinobi!" He states excitedly.

The bartender eyes the boy skeptically. "I think you've had a too much drink kid."

He falls to his knees and crawls towards the black cat. "Please believe me. I'm a really awesome ninja, I promise."

Haru looks around the bar for any other possible prospect, but turns back with a deep-seated sigh. "Fine, here are the details" He produces a scroll in a puff of smoke and tosses it to Akeno before dispelling himself.

Akeno fumbles with the scroll before holding it close to his chest, a large grin covers his face. "Whoop!" He jumps up in excitement, hitting the closest chair and falling into the counter. "Ugh..."

The bartender shakes his head and moves away to help his other customers.

A sudden seriousness settles over the white-haired man, all signs of his intoxication vanishing as he opens the scroll carefully. His brows furrow as he reads the information within. "Well… this should certainly be interesting."

* * *

Natsumi sighs, eyeing the route before her impatiently.

"Don't worry Natsumi! I'm sure the Kazekage isn't that bad." Ino says, attempting to placate any worries or doubts.

"You know, when he's not trying to destroy a village or murder hundreds that is." Shikamaru drawled sarcastically.

Natsumi grimaced. "Gee that makes me feel SO much better. We can murder people together and it will all be fucking glitter and rainbows." She snorted. "Who knows, maybe we can both ride into the wedding ceremony on unicorns, and they can stab all of our enemies on our way to the alter."

Ino smacked Shikamaru upside the head. "You moron!"

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Shikamaru grumbled, rubbing his sore head.

"Thats the last thing she needs to hear right now!" Ino huffed. "Men are so stupid sometimes."

"Troublesome…"

They faltered momentarily as the trees slowly transitioned from that of Hashirama to the pink of cherry blossoms. Hundreds of sakura trees surrounded them, their petals floating leisurely in the breeze.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru yelled, eyes darting around to find the source of the jutsu.

"Genjutsu?" Choji asked hesitantly.

Natsumi's face set into a grim line. "No… I think its a Ninjutsu."

"KAI!" Both Shikamaru and Choji try, better to be sure.

The image around them doesn't even waver.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru mutters with a hint of frustration.

Suddenly things shift. The branches beneath their feet animate, ensnaring their thighs before they can dodge and climbing steadily higher. Small thorns scrap flesh, leaving small puncture wounds as they tighten.

Natsumi reacted quickly, unsheathing one of her swords, she cut through the branches around her easily, ink splattering everywhere. She noticed that the others were quickly overwhelmed and bound, and growled under her breath. "Show yourself, you coward!"

A soft laugh resonates through the sakura forest. "It is not cowardly to know when one is out numbered, nor for a ninja to strike from the shadows. It is mere precaution, the prerogative of a shinobi."

A figure steps from behind a nearby trunk donned in priest's robes of white and purple. His white hair shimmers in the sunbeams that dance between the petals and his eyes glow only a shade darker than the blossoms. A small smile sits on his lips as he holds a blank scroll and brush in his hands. "I will respect such a direct request however."

She didn't reply, instead she launched herself at him, her katana poised to strike at his throat.

The man doesn't move, his smile merely widening as the katana pierces his neck. However, no resistance is met and the image fades. As Natsumi tries to regain her balance, the man reappears behind her. He quickly bashes an elbow into her head, knocking her out cold.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio gasps as their superior and charge is so quickly taken out, their efforts doubling as they attempt to remove the bindings. They freeze as the man looks to them, his feminine figure and small stature belying the events they just witnessed.

He tilts his head likely, his pink magenta eyes calculating, before his gentle smile returns. "No hard feelings, yeah? This is merely business." He waves jauntily before lifting the unconscious woman from the ground. "Buh-bye! The branches _should _wither in… oh four hours or so." With that he jumps into the trees, easily disappearing from sight.

"YOU JERK! YOU'LL BE SORRY WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE! YOU HEAR ME!" Ino shouted, struggling to break free. Her cries died away as she realized that the rogue ninja could no longer hear her. "Guys… He just spirited away the future bride of the Kazekage…"

"Troublesome…"

* * *

_**Dear Shinobi-san,**_

_**Yeah, so this is probably going to be one of the weirdest requests that you have ever gotten, but I was recently forced into an arranged marriage, to a person that I don't know. So, if you could ambush and 'kidnap' me on the way to his village, that would be great! Also, I will fight back to make this seem like a realistic kidnapping. Half of your payment is enclosed, and I will pay you the rest once the marriage is called off. There is also a map with the route that I will be taking and a photo.**_

_**See you soon!**_

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End

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AN: We do not apologize for our madness.


	2. Files Away

**Author's Note:** So, I really should have Blood help with these notes, but I have a bad habit of posting after she goes to bed with this fic. This is another "sorry" update. That's all three stories updated in a single day, doesn't that make people happy?

Anyways, as said before, life kicked me in the ass, hard. Hopefully y'all enjoy this chapter.

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**Disclaimer:** If we owned it, the epilogue would never have happened. It was beyond odd...

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**Chapter: Files Away**

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\- In Suna -

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Kankuro releases a deep sigh of frustration as he leans on the Kazekage desk. "Man! Remind me why we're going through with this again?"

"Because the Suna council keeps insisting that I get engaged…" Gaara stated in irritation. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, finishing another stack of paper work.

"So…" Kankuro begins carefully. "You decided a random leaf kunoichi is the best choice?"

"Kankuro," Temari begins, "it is the best way to improve relations between our villages, and it's Gaara's choice. It isn't like he's forcing you to marry." _Or me..._

Kankuro shifts, perhaps a little guiltily. "I know, but…" _he's our baby brother._ The thought goes unsaid.

"Actually…" Gaara shifted his gaze back to his paperwork. "She was recommended by Lady Tsunade."

His siblings stare at him for a moment. "You've… never even met her?" Temari questions hesitantly.

"I've… heard about her, but yes, I've never met her." He tosses a file in Temari's direction. "Her name is Suzushima Natsumi. Jonin of the Leaf."

She scoops it up and efficiently scans through the file with a practiced eye. "This all we know?" She finishes and hands it to her middle brother.

"Naruto had mentioned her as well. He said that she was scary, but kind." He says quietly as he reads through some more paperwork.

Kankuro grunts. "Well, that answers everything." He pulls out a photo included in the file. "At least she's hot."

Temari reaches over and smacks the back of his head. "Quite ogling your baby brother's fiance." She grabs the photo file back from him and flips back through it making a few notes in her mind. "Decent skills overall."

"Good mission stats from what I saw," Kankuro adds, "but not so much discipline. There were a couple reprimand notices in there."

"She seems to be a stubborn one." Temari remarks in amusement, a small smirk forming as she draws parallels between the kunoichi and a short blonde menace. "Seems like the runaway bride type to me."

Kankuro whistles as he glances over his sister's shoulders. "Well, you'll definitely have your hands full with this one."

Gaara sighs. "I already have my hands full with you two alone…" He mutters as he sets another stack of paperwork onto the completed pile.

Kankuro gasps, hands flying to his chest. "You wound me, dearest brother of mine! How could you say such cruel words about your adoring older siblings."

Temari ignores them both, a frown marring her face as she reads further into the pages, her brow crinkling slightly.

"By simply stating the truth." Gaara mutters.

"She lost them." Temari mutters to herself, a small ball of horror taking root in her gut as she reads the details of a mission gone wrong. Both brothers' eyes turn towards her, curious and questioning. "Her team…"

"What are you on about, sis?" Kankuro prods, but Temari just shakes her head.

"Her teammates died on a mission five months ago." Gaara stated with an unreadable expression. He set his pen and paperwork to the side, resting his elbows on top of his desk, and his hands in folded in front of his face.

Kankuro frowns. "That may be a problem…"

Gaara nods. "Yes, it may be. Tsunade said that she is handling it quite well, though."

Silence radiates through the room.

"Handling it well?" Temari ventures, "Or passing the psychologist's exams?"

Gaara opened his mouth to respond, before quickly shutting it as Baki burst into the room. He sent said man a questioning look, as Baki took a moment to compose himself.

"Kazekage-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is an urgent matter." He took a deep breath, preparing as best as he could, seeing as all hell was about to break loose. "Suzushima-san has been kidnapped."

"What!?"

* * *

\- In Konoha -

* * *

Tsunade is leaning over the desk, for once dutifully filling out paperwork, the threat Shizune banning her sake perhaps having something to do with the scene.

Thunderous footsteps hurry towards the door, shouts of alarm and askance to slow down sound down the hall and through the tower. No danger, or sounds of fighting would have already been heard, maybe an explosion or two.

In other words, nothing interesting enough to get out of _paperwork._

A set of hurried footsteps could be heard outside of the office, just before a polite knock sounded from the door.

"Enter!" Tsunade calls.

The door opens to reveal a panic-stricken Choji. After entering the room, he immediately closes the door, foolishly cutting off his escape route. "Um, Lady Tsunade? We've encountered an issue with the mission…"

Tsunade places her elbows on the desk, steeping her fingers in front of her. "What happened?"

He gulps, knowing her reaction was going to be horrible, especially if she's already this frustrated with paperwork. "Suzushima-san was kidnapped."

Her hands move to her temples, her entire demeanor turning dark and deadly. "Explain." She hisses.

"A shinobi with unknown rank or origin appeared and attacked us with this weird Jutsu, which appeared to be sakura branches, and wrapped them around us. Shikamaru, Ino and I were unable to escape and were trapped. Suzushima-san, however, avoided the attack and started to engage the enemy. But he was able to hit her in a blind spot, and knocked her out." Choji replied quickly and clearly.

Tsunade blinks slowly, his words processing. "You were beaten... By sakura branches… Those pink flowery trees?"

He nods. "It was a Jutsu that none of us had ever seen before. They just appeared out of nowhere, and it wasn't a Genjutsu."

Tsunade forces her face to remain neutral and merely shakes her head. "Was anyone injured? Where are the others?"

"No one was injured, except maybe Suzushima-san, but we can't be certain of that until we get her back. Ino went to inform the Kazekage, and Shikamaru is tracking the enemy." Choji replied nervously.

"You are to return your team's last location." Tsunade orders reasonably. "A squad of ANBU will be sent with you to retrieve Suzushima and procure the unknown ninja if possible." She flings her hand out as a signal to the ANBU in the room and Choji. "GO!"

"Yes ma'am!" Choji yells before quickly vacating the room.

Tsunade settles into place as everyone leaves, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "WOOHOO!" She jumps out of the chair in a rare show of exuberance. "There's no way Shizune could blame me for not doing paperwork during a political crisis!" She does a happy jig, ignoring all decorum.

Suddenly it hits her. "NOO!"

* * *

"What do you mean that she was kidnapped?" Gaara growled while slowly rubbing his temples. '_Great, more paperwork…' _

"A leaf kunoichi arrived in great haste with the news." Baki explains. "They were purportedly attacked by an unknown shinobi using unknown ninjutsu and incapacitated."

"And why isn't she the one telling us? Seeing as she was a part of the escort mission?" Gaara asked slowly.

"She is," Baki begins, "apparently quite intimidated by you."

"Not mention all the regulations surrounding foreign shinobi and kages." Kankuro mutters.

"Send her in. I want to know everything about this rogue ninja that kidnapped my fiance." Gaara ordered, dismissing Baki as he let out a sigh of irritation through his nose.

Baki backs from the room with a short bow.

* * *

The small fair toned man sits dainty as he sips tea, his face a mask of contentment. At some point both him and his 'hostage' had sat down in the middle of clearing with a table and chair set. Surrounded by genjutsu of course. Akeno did have a reputation to maintain, even if he wanted a small break and some answers.

"I can honestly say, that I have never had a willing victim before." Akeno starts in a pleasant tone.

"I like having my freedom." Natsumi replied, a slight edge in her tone.

"Oh, I never said I didn't appreciate the reasoning." He offers placatingly. "I just never abducted someone on their own demand." He tilts his head, his magenta eyes dancing with amusement. "How in the world did you come by this solution though?"

She shrugs. "I got the idea from someone else, actually."

"So, who was this unwanted suitor of yours anyways?" He asks. "Some wimpy Daimyo's nephew? Foreign clan heir? Old man with a fetish?"

"The Kazekage." Natsumi replied easily, taking another sip of tea.

Akeno freezes with his cup halfway to his lips. He places it down gently and clasps his hands in front of him. "The Kazekage?" He clarifies carefully. "The leader of Suna? Sabaku no Gaara?""

Natsumi nods, setting her cup down as well. "That would be correct."

He releases a stream of expletives and quickly downs the rest of his tea before packing up. "You could have mentioned that bit earlier." Four quick movements and all but the chair Natsumi is occupying is gone.

"Well I couldn't say that in the letter, now could I?!" Natsumi glares. "That is sensitive information! I had no idea whether you would betray me or not." She takes a deep breath. "Even now I still don't entirely trust you."

Akeno blinks innocently, his entire countenance screaming, '_Who, me?'_ "Still, it means we need to get a bit further away, we're too close to the sand border for comfort and I'd rather not face off against the youngest Kage to date."

Natsumi just nods before standing. "Lead the way. You're the one who kidnapped me after all."

Akeno gives a put upon sigh and takes quickly to trees. "I usually don't take jobs out this way, we'll try to make it to one of my safe houses before dark."

* * *

Gaara let out a low growl of frustration. So far, this arranged marriage was definitely more trouble that it was worth.

Kankuro and Temari look at him with slight worry, not for their safety, not anymore, but in genuine sibling worry.

Feeling their worried gazes, Gaara snapped. "What?!"

Kankuro nervously scratches his cheek. "Eh… We were… Uh… Temari?"

Temari shoots him an annoyed glance before offering Gaara a small smile. "We were just wondering how all this was affecting you."

Gaara glanced at them, curious and utterly clueless as to what they were talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she stops to put the emotion into words, "you are worried. Even if you never meet this woman she is a connection to your friend and this is causing you distress. As your sister, when something causes you distress, I worry too."

Gaara remains silent, brows knitting together in confusion, as he contemplated her words. "Its not that… I do not know the exact relation between her and Naruto. I dont really know much about her at all." Gaara sighed. "All I know is, this whole situation is becoming more trouble than it's worth. At most, I am exasperated."

Temari gives him a knowing look, not believing him in the least. Naruto's bond means a lot to him.

"Well, it's not like we won't find her." Kankuro states confidently. "We Sand Sibs haven't failed a mission!"

"That is false." Gaara deadpans.

"That time totally doesn't count!" Kankuro nearly whines. "We were mostly separated and it wasn't our idea to begin with."

* * *

Ino clears her throat as she comes to a stop. "We're here."

"This is where you were ambushed?" Gaara asks, his attention turning to her.

Ino nods.

The trees around them are undisturbed, less than when they were first there and none the tell tale pink of sakura in bloom. The ground remains nearly undisturbed, the light tracks of shinobi in motion only faintly visible. If it weren't for the remaining thorns and petals scattered upon the ground, it would be doubtful this was the same place.

"You said that Shikamaru was tracking them as well?" Gaara intoned. "Do you know which direction they were headed, or have a trail to follow?"

"There will be a trail." Ino states surely. "We aren't an actual tracking team, but we were taught how to create and recognize the signs for such."

"Lead the way then." Gaara stated calmly.

She nods briskly once more, looking only a moment before taking off to the east.

He sighed, quickly following her. '_This is going to be a long day…'_

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**End Chapter**

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**Author's Note:** Well, not too bad right? Especially since this was a story concieved well after midnight on pain killers and cold medicine. Might have to edit the chapter later after Blood get's another look, but it'll do for now.

Please, please, please, tell us what you think. Or any ideas you have. This is actually a humour fic, the funnies will be more obvious a little bit in.


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